Anybody who spends quite a lot of the day sitting may in all probability stand to strengthen their glutes. And the clam shell train is a superb strategy to just do that.
But it surely additionally provides an entire lot extra. This train—which is a staple in rehab and prehab bodily remedy packages, in addition to a fixture in some Pilates courses—ushers in a number of total-body advantages that transcend the butt. Assume: damage prevention, lowered ache, and total higher motion.
In case you’re not acquainted, the clam shell includes mendacity in your aspect along with your hips, knees, and ankles stacked on prime of one another and knees bent to a 90-degree angle. Then, conserving your ft pressed collectively, you merely elevate after which decrease your prime leg, performing a movement referred to as hip abduction (mainly utilizing your hip muscle mass to maneuver your leg away out of your physique). Watch a demo and also you’ll perceive the place it will get its title: The train mimics the movement of its namesake sea creature.
The clam shell is easy, sure, however its advantages are severely legit. Right here we cowl all you might want to learn about this super-effective transfer, together with which muscle mass it really works, what kind of train it counts as, what you’ll achieve by doing it on the reg, kind errors to keep away from, and ideas for weaving it into your routine. Then we’ve a GIF and step-by-step directions so you possibly can check out the clam shell for your self!
What muscle mass does the clam shell work?
Do sufficient reps of the clam shell and also you’ll really feel your gluteal muscle mass put to work. Particularly, this train actually fires up your gluteus maximus (your largest butt muscle) in addition to your gluteus medius, a smaller muscle that kinds your aspect butt, Femi Betiku, PT, DPT, CSCS, a bodily therapist and Pilates teacher in Westchester, New York, tells SELF.
It additionally engages your tensor fasciae latae (TFL), one of many hip flexors, in addition to your exterior obliques, core muscle mass that run alongside the perimeters of your torso, he provides. These two muscle mass get particularly fired up should you use some kind of resistance to finish the transfer—individuals mostly do it with a mini-band positioned above their knees—since that requires your physique to work further onerous to assist stabilize your trunk as you full the clam shell movement.
What sort of train is the clam shell?
What field the clam shell ticks will depend on your present exercise stage. In the event you’re new to train, it may be a muscular power and endurance transfer, Dr. Betiku says. In different phrases, it may well assist your muscle mass get stronger and increase their potential to work for lengthy durations of time. However should you’re already fairly lively, then it’s extra of a warm-up drill that may assist interact your muscle mass earlier than you employ them extra intensely throughout a exercise. That’s as a result of the glutes are one of many strongest muscle mass within the physique, and with the intention to develop and strengthen them, you want resistance that’s heavy sufficient to actually problem them. Relying in your present power stage, a band could do that initially, however ultimately, it gained’t be as much as snuff.